Missing (Russo Family Secrets)
by selenaxo
Summary: Are Alex, Justin, and Max really the only 3 kids of Jerry and Theresa? Family secrets are revealed, sibling relationships are enforced, magic is used. But are they really ready to uncover this huge secret? Travel with the classically hilarious WOWP characters as they discover new secrets and their family develops even more. Lots of humor, too! ;)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

They never wanted to give me away.

But, of course, they had to.

The wizard council was afraid.

Afraid of me and my destiny, and what it would bring to everyone else in the wizard world.

I was too powerful for them, and I grow stronger every day.

They just couldn't accept me for who I am.

But you know what?

They're going to have to accept it.

I've been waiting twelve years.

_Everything is not what it seems..._


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Max, give up! There is no spell to turn your shoes into squeezable mustard bottles!"

As usual, as Max went through as many spells as he could think of that could possibly make his shoes into yellow bottles, Alex wondered how she was even remotely related to this 16-year-old idiot of a teenager. She sat to the right of the colorful wizard portal, surfing the world wide wizard web for the cutest pair of Elf's Leather boots she could find. They were the brand new wizard trend these days, and they were just too cute to not have. She had stolen some money from Justin's Captain Jim Bob piggy bank earlier that day because they weren't cheap.

"But it would be so cool! Think about it Alex... You could have mustard whenever, wherever!" He said loudly, dramatically waving his hand out in front of him.

Alex rolled her eyes and continued on her search for an adorable pair of new shoes.

Max readied his wand, holding it just above the pair of shoes sitting on the table in the middle of the lair. "Ok, shoes," he mumbled. "Try this spell on for size!" He began to chuckle at his on corny joke. "Get it, Alex? Because-"

"Seriously, I don't care," informed Alex, not even looking up from the computer screen. "Do your little mustard thing without bothering me."

Max waved his wand and said, "Shoeus Mustardo!"

A light came from the end of his wand, then quickly died out. The spell didn't work. No surprise.

"Darn!" He said, slumping onto the couch behind him. "It didn't work!"

Alex looked up from her screen, glaring at Max. "Maybe that's because that was the fourth time you've tried the same spell that obviously doesn't work!" She emphasized the last three words.

Max stroked his chin. "That is definitely a possibility..."

Alex threw back her head and groaned. Out of all of the brothers in the world, she HAD to have him...

Just then, Justin entered the room. He was looking down at a white sheet of paper, studying it with intensity.

"This is a very interesting letter," he said outloud.

Alex scoffed. "Who would send you a letter?"

"Oh, no one, just my... blog followers," he bragged, proudly smirking.

"You're right," Alex admitted. "That is no one."

"Hey! That... That is not true!" He stuttered. "People read my blog!"

She laughed loudly, pushing back a piece of her long, dark hair. "Ok, so... Zeke and Dad. Maybe."

"Uh, they are not the only people who read my blog," he said, imitating Alex's attitude.

Max looked up from his shoes. "Then why are you holding only one letter?" He asked.

Alex air-fived Max from where he was sitting. Justin had a stern look on his face. "Anyway, moving on! There is a very interesting idea for my next blog entry in this letter, and-"

Just as Justin was about to finish his sentence, Max came rushing over to where he was standing, near Alex and the portal door. "Wait!" He ordered. "This might be what I need to make my spell work!" He grabbed the letter from Justin's hands before he could do anything about it, and rushed back over to his shoes. He put the letter over his shoes and once again readied his wand.

He made much bigger wand movements this time as he said, "MUSTARDO, MUSTARDO, MUSTARDO!"

His wand began to glow and shake violently, and moments later, the light cast the spell on the shoes and the paper, and both exploded into tiny bits. It began to rain bits of shoe and burnt paper. Alex's mouth was wide open in a circular 'O' shape. Justin looked horrified

"My blog letter!" Justin squeaked, looking around in the air at what was left of his precious letter.

"Oh no," Alex said, faking enthusiasm. "Now your tens of followers will never read your blog again."

Justin stormed over to Max. "Max! What was that for?" He yelled. "And how in the world would a piece of paper make the spell any different?!"

"I dunno, but did you see that explosion?" Max said excitedly. "That was awesome!"

Justin tried to calm his anger, but he couldn't. "Dude, chill," said Alex, still over by the Wizard computer.

Justin took a fake swipe at Max's head, not intending to actually hit him. Preparing for the blow, Max held his arms in front of him, as a reaction to his reflexes. His right hand, still holding his wand, flicked downward slightly, and power from his wand shot out as a beam of light and hit something across the room from them on a bookshelf near the entrance of the lair. It flung to the left off of the shelf onto the floor and hit the ground with a thud, a few feet behind the lazy, comfy chair.

All three of them turned their heads towards the object that was just flung onto the ground. Alex slowly got up and walked over to it. She picked it up and rubbed the worn, leather cover, her red nail polish gleaming.

"What is it?" asked Justin. Max dropped his arms down to his side

"Its... Some sort of binder or something..." Alex replied. She walked over to the couch next to the table and sat down, plopping it on the table. Justin and Max gathered around as Alex opened to the first page.

On the first page, there was a picture inside a translucent pocket. It was dusty and had a few scratches, and Alex could tell it was once very glossy. She took it out of the pocket and studied it.

In the picture, there was a man and a woman holding a very small baby. Alex chuckled. "Look! Its a picture of mom and dad holding Max the day he was born!"

In the background, there was a young boy with brown hair of about 3 years old, and a girl with very dark hair who was about 2.

"Aww, look!" she said, gesturing towards Justin. "We were so cute!"

Alex put the picture back in the clear sleeve and continued to flip through pages. "Guys, do you know what this is?" Justin said, astonished. "This is a family picture book that we've never even known about! I didn't know Dad and Mom kept all of these!"

"No, really?" said Alex with a very sarcastic tone.

Alex spotted a picture that caught her eye. It was a picture of her at about five years old, with several colorful bows standing out in her dark, wavy hair. Her tan skin glowed, and she was grinning from ear to ear while tightly holding her arm around Harper, her best friend. She had sandy blonde hair and was laughing. She was wearing a bright pink shirt with a cupcake on it. She sighed, missing those times so long ago, when everything was so much more simple. She didn't even really know much about magic until she was older, let alone Harper knew anything about it.

Lost in thought, Alex didn't even notice the small picture that fell out of the book when Justin flipped to the next page. She heard it softly flutter to the ground, causing her to come out of her thoughts and look down at where the picture had landed. She leaned over, picked it up, and turned it over revealing the picture.

It was a picture of a baby, obviously only a few days old. At first glance, Alex assumed it was her. The baby had almost black hair, tan skin, and a cute toothless smile. But she noticed something that was very odd.

"Guys, I don't think this is me..." Alex said, confused.

Justin looked up from a picture he was looking at and leaned over towards Alex. "Of course that's you," he said. "The baby is wearing a pink jumper, so obviously that is a girl."

"Yeah, Alex," agreed Max. "No one puts a boy in a pink outfit." This was one of the first times Alex had seen her brother even say something remotely considered smart.

Alex ran her fingers through a tangled piece of hair. "I would agree, but look... these baby's eyes are green. I've had dark brown eyes my whole life. Besides, this only looks a little bit like me." Alex was right. Although her baby pictures and this picture looked similar, it wasn't the same, especially the eyes.

"Maybe it's just a weird picture. It could've been taken at a weird angle. And as for the eyes, maybe the printing got screwed up," said Justin as he took the picture from Alex's fingers, studying it closer. "I mean, Dad and Mom wouldn't just have some random picture of a baby who wasn't theirs in a family photo book. That's just weird."

Alex nodded. "You're right. That would be weird. That must be just a weird picture." Just as she had convinced herself, something caught her eye. "Wait," she said. She snatched the picture back from Justin, looking at the back side of the picture, eyes wide. "I change my mind. This isn't me."

Justin and Max looked at each other, confused. "What makes you say that?"

"The date on this picture is 2/20/98. And it's definitely Dad's handwriting." The handwritten date mocked Alex's confusion.

Justin froze. "What? That makes no sense! You were way older than that in the year '98!"

Alex flipped over the picture. This time, when she looked at the baby, it gave her chills.

"Who are you?"


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello! I hope you are enjoying my fanfic so far. I sure love writing it :) For fans of this fanfic, keep reading! Things are gonna get exciting, and fast! **

**Please leave a review! Thanks :)**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Alex, still holding the picture, walked out of the lair. As usual, Jerry was making sandwiches with much effort and enthusiasm (because we all know how much Jerry loves his sandwiches) and Theresa was sweeping up the restaurant, apron loosely tied around her waist. It was around six o'clock in the evening, and even though it was summer, it was dimly lit outside because of the cloudy, cold weather they had been having. Alex walked up to her dad. He was holding a dark red bottle of BBQ sauce over a chicken sandwich when Alex interrupted him.

"Dad-"

"Shhht!" He said, silencing his daughter by waving his free hand abruptly in her face. "I must concentrate. I am about to make the best chicken and BBQ sub Waverly Place has ever seen!"

He delicately squirted a few neat lines of rich sauce onto the sandwich and placed the top piece of bread neatly on top. He then proudly held up his accomplishment with great pride,

"Isn't she beautiful?!" Jerry exclaimed, his voice slightly wavering in excitement.

Alex rolled her eyes and grunted. "I seriously wonder what is wrong with you sometimes," Alex mumbled.

Ignoring her remark, Jerry quickly ate the sandwich. Alex, watching in surprise, had a confused and disgusted look on her face. "Uhmmm... Isn't that supposed to be for the customer?"

Her dad suddenly stopped chewing. He looked around in excitement. "Customer?" He muffled, mouth completely full of BBQ chicken sub. "Where?"

Alex looked around, realizing that there were indeed no customers in the building at the moment. Slow business day, Alex guessed. This didn't surprise her. It wasn't like this was out of the ordinary. They were once so desperate for customers that they made punch cards- buy ten subs, get the 11th free. Of course, that was a disaster, and they had to use Max's adorable face to get out of it. At the time, Max had been accidentally turned into a cute, 12-year-old girl, and because it was a malfunctioning spell no one could reverse it and it took awhile to wear off.

Alex, shaking her head of the memories, got Jerry's attention once again so she could ask the question she came out to the kitchen for. "Dad, come out here with me," she said, walking into the restaurant. She sat down in one of the booths. "Mom, you too. I need to ask you guys about something."

Jerry and Theresa nodded. "Of course, Mi Hija!" Theresa exclaimed. She sat down next to Alex as Jerry sat across from the two. "Ask us anything you want."

Alex looked down. She studied the picture in her hands just before she put it in the middle of the table.

"Who is this?"

Jerry slid the picture over to his side of the table and picked it up with fragile hands. After looking for a few moments, he looked up, his face almost emotionless. "Where did you find this?" He said blankly.

"It doesn't matter," she said sternly. "Just tell me why you wrote the date on the back, and why we have it."

"Jerry, give it to me. Let me see," said her mom, gesturing towards herself. Jerry slid the picture across the table, and Theresa picked it up gingerly. With only taking a fraction of a second to look at it, she put it down immediately.

"Sorry, don't know," she said suddenly. The way she said it didn't sound like her. Her hispanic accent almost wasn't audible, and the words slurred together, which was something her mother never did. It was as if someone else was saying those words for her. Meanwhile, Jerry still suspiciously lacked emotion.

Alex furrowed her brow. "Are you sure-"

"Hey! Why don't we have some delicious chicken soup for dinner tonight?" Theresa said, eyes lighting up, as if Alex had never even asked the question or showed her the picture. She wasn't acting guilty or suspicious like Alex's father, she was just acting as if the past minute had been completely wiped from her memory.

Alex stared wide-eyed at Theresa for a few moments. "Chicken sou... No! We aren't talking about soup! I want to know who..."

"Chicken soup?" Jerry said, obviously trying to change the subject. "Yum, that's my favorite! Lets go!"

"Dad! You hate chicken soup!" Alex yelled as they started to stand. "What the heck is going on?"

They ignored her as they started to make their way towards the spiral staircase. These stairs led up to the first floor of the Russo residence, where their bright orange couch, kitchen and large outdoor balcony were.

Alex was angry now. She tried to calm herself down, but she was furious. Just as her parents put their foot on the first step, Alex exploded.

"STOP!"

Jerry and Theresa froze. They slowly turned towards their daughter.

"Alex, we would help you. if we actually knew who that baby was, but we don't. It's probably just some picture that someone lost. I'm sorry we can't help," said her mother.

Theresa walked up the rest of the clunky metal stairs. Her dad followed behind, but just as he was about to climb the rest, he stopped. He turned towards Alex, looking as if he was about to tell her something. Alex felt hope boiling up inside of her. But just then, his eyes dimmed again, and as he sighed, obviously upset with himself, he walked up the rest of the stairs.

Alex groaned and purposely fell onto one of the comfortable, blue booths. She raised the picture up once more, studying it. Why couldn't she figure out who this is? Obviously it was someone important, or Jerry's handwriting wouldn't be on it and his reaction to her showing him the picture wouldn't have been like that. She needed help from supportive, understanding people, and she knew just who to call. She knew she didn't need to call Harper, because Harper was probably on her way home from the crafts store by now and she would be at the sub station any minute, but she needed to call someone else also. She dug her phone out of her pocket and scrolled down to the contact she needed. She pressed the number, put the phone to her ear, and waited. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey Mason," she said through a smile. "Listen, I need you and Harper over here right now. Something really weird is happening, with my dad especially..."

Mason gasped. "Did your dad forget mustard and bacon on his sandwich again?" Mason said with a muffled British accent. "I'm coming right over."

Alex laughed. "No, this is way weirder."

"Weirder? This has got to be good!"

Alex smiled. "I'll explain everything once you come. I seriously need your guys' help..."


	4. Chapter 3

**More secrets are revealed about this mysterious girl! Keep on reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"So, you're telling me you think your parents, your dad especially, are hiding something?"

Mason, Harper, and Alex walked into the lair. No one would be bothering them there- her parents, after deciding it was too much work to cook chicken soup, were out on a well-deserved date night, making fun of the easily spottable tourists, Justin had just left moments ago to go to his volcano club meeting, and Max was doing whatever Max does in his incredibly foul and dirty room.

Alex nodded, sitting down on the red-cushioned couch. Mason sat next to her and Harper sat on the comfy chair across from them.

"Yeah. Like I told you, we found this picture in a family photo book," she said waving the picture, "and when I tried to ask them about it they acted really strange, the strangest I've ever seen."

"Knowing your dad, he can be pretty strange," said Harper. "This must be a big deal."

"Let me take a look at the picture," said Mason. Harper got up and walked over so she could see it also. Alex handed him the picture. Mason studied it for a few moments, then frowned. "This sort of looks like you," he said. "So it must be you." Harper nodded in agreement.

Alex sighed, wishing it was that simple. "Turn it over," she ordered. Mason turned over the picture and looked at the date. His eyes widened. "Well, that doesn't make sense," Mason said. "According to this date this child would be about 12 years old."

"Wait," Harper said, wrinkling her forehead and standing up. "If it isn't you, and you're the only girl of your siblings, then... who is it?"

"My question exactly," Alex grumbled. "Why would they have a baby picture of someone who isn't their child?"

"Hold on!" Mason exclaimed. "Look at this! I think there is something else written on here!"

Harper rushed over and craned her neck to see. "Where?!" Alex exclaimed at the same time.

"Right here. Its very small and incredibly faint, as if someone tried to rub it off or erase it... but because I have such good eyesight I can see it."

Alex smiled and squeezed Mason tight. This was one of the perks of having a werewolf boyfriend- all of his senses were heightened, including sight.

"Well?" Harper questioned. "What does it say?"

"I think..." he said. "Umm... I think it says wwww. ... creaturegalore... .wiz," He said as he squinted and read off the web address slowly. It was obviously hard to read.

Alex's dark eyes lit up. The four w's and the '.wiz' could only mean one thing. She looked at Harper. "It's a wizard net address!" She sprinted over to the wiz computer. She opened up the giant, heavy top. "Man, this thing is old," she muttered as Mason and Harper gathered around her. "I've been wanting a wiz laptop for, like, ever!"

She quickly exited out of her shopping tab and opened a new one. With speedy fingers, she typed in the address and dramatically hit enter. The spinning rainbow ball came up, indicating that the page was loading.

Alex groaned. "No! Not the spinny wheel of death!"

"Be patient, Alex," said Mason.

Finally, the page slowly started to appear. A colorful banner at the top of the page read 'WELCOME TO CREATURE GALORE!' Cartoon dragons, baby vampires, very young wizards, and other baby creatures were around the bright words. A description below read, "Have you ever wanted a magical being or animal as your own? Well now you can have one! We even have rare, exotic creatures, varying from rare forms of ogres to even dragons that look like beagles! Choose your category and adopt now!"

"It's an adoption center..." Harper said in wonder. "But why would that be on the back of that picture?"

"Maybe dad and mom were thinking about adopting her a long time ago and that's why they have the picture!" exclaimed Alex, her hope rising even more.

"Then she's probably some sort of creature," said Mason. "We can probably find her on this website!"

Alex scrolled down to see three options to choose from: 'human-like', 'animal', or 'other creatures.' Alex forcefully clicked on the human option. When the page loaded, it came up with many more creatures to choose from. Alex clicked 'see all human-like creatures' and hoped for the best. To her disappointment, there were so many different creatures that there were 1,000 pages of them.

Alex was just about ready to give up, as she always tends to do once something gets hard. But Harper could see her slowly surrendering, and she didn't want to see Alex give up once again.

"Please don't give up!" Harper said, rubbing Alex's back in support.

"Hold on!" said Mason enthusiastically. "Click on the button that says 'Log In' at the top!"

Alex moved the cursor over to the top right corner and clicked. It had 2 boxes, one labeled 'Wiz Net Email' and one labeled 'Password.'

"Do you know what your dad's email is?" Harper asked.

Alex nodded. She furiously typed in his email.

"What about his password? Does he have a password that he always uses for everything?"

Alex thought for a moment. "It's either going to be SubStation14 or Italianbuckaroo6."

Everyone snickered. Alex found it hilarious that her dad wanted to be a professional bull rider as his Plan B if he didn't make it as the family wizard. She still made fun of him for that every once in awhile.

After trying both passwords (Italianbuckaroo6 was the one that turned out to be correct) it came up with a little pop-up window that said 'Welcome, Jerry Russo.' Alex smiled. They were in!

Alex exited out of the window, then spotted a little tab that said 'Recent Places.' "Maybe we'll find something here," she said, not expecting much. She clicked on the tab.

Everyone gasped.

Right there, on the first thing that came up, was the exact baby picture that Alex had found in the photo book of the mysterious girl they had been trying to find this whole time. Her big, green eyes stared right back at the three of them, and even though she was adorable the mysterious quality of this baby overruled her cuteness. Even the toothless grin didn't prevent Alex from getting the shivers. Next to the picture was a link, which read 'NO LONGER FOR ADOPTION' in bright red letters. Alex clicked on the link, but it redirected her to a page that apparently no longer existed.

"Does it have any description about what creature she is? Or anything at all about her?" asked Mason.

"No..." said Alex, disappointed. An idea suddenly popped into her head. "Guys," Alex said, suddenly standing up, "We've got to go to this adoption center. Like now."

"Alex, not now," Harper said. "It's already ten o'clock! How about tomorrow?"

At first, Alex didn't believe that it was already ten. But when she looked at the time on the wizard computer, she realized time had flown by so much quicker than she thought. "Okay, then we can go first thing tomorrow."

Harper gave her a disbelieving glance. "Honey, do you really think you will even be up before 11am tomorrow?"

Harper was right again- Alex did love sleeping the day away. "Ugh, why do I have to be so lazy?" she moaned. She turned towards Harper and started to instruct her. "Harper; if I'm not awake by 9:30 tomorrow, wake me up. Mason, come over around then and we can all go to the adoption center. Okay?" Alex was so glad that Harper was living with them. She didn't know what she'd do without her.

Harper smiled. "Alex, I love how productive you're being! You really want to find this girl, don't you? Because I have never seen you this determined before."

Alex glared. "Don't get used to it."

Mason had a sad look on his face. "Actually, Alex, I'm fairly busy tomorrow. I don't think I will be able to make it. Tomorrow is when my cousins come over, and I have to help my mom prepare the meat." Mason shook his head. "Man, my cousins can put away ten pigs alone!"

"Mason! You can't bail on us!" said Alex while rubbing his shoulders.

"I'm sorry! I really wish I could skip, love. But my mom would kill me; and that isn't sarcastic."

Alex sighed. "It's okay." She brought him in for a hug, then softly kissed him. They continued to hug. Harper awkwardly shuffled to the exit, then yelled, "SEE YOU IN P.E.!" with wide eyes.

Alex and Mason laughed, and Mason brushed a piece of hair out of her face. "You're acting like this is the last time we're ever going to see each other."

"Of course we're going to see each other! It's just... I'm going to miss you."

Mason gave her a funny look. "How long are you planning on staying at that adoption center?"

Alex looked down. "I just don't know how long it's going to take us, or what we're going to find here. I don't know why, but I feel like this girl is a big part of my life..."

Mason hugger her once more. "I think its for the best that I don't come. This seems to be a mission you and Harper should take together."

Alex didn't want to admit it, but he was right. She would still miss him not being there, though.

The two walked out of the lair and into the sandwich kitchen. They walked into the restaurant, hugged once again, and she watched Mason walk out the substation door. Alex yelled goodnight to Harper down the basement stairs, then slowly made her way up the spiral stairs into the Russo family residence, making her way to her bed. She was exhausted, and by the time she got to her room, put on her pajamas and got in bed, she was almost already asleep.

* * *

"Alex!" Max yelled, walking into the lair. "Have you seen my giant fork I got a few years ago? I need it because dad left a bunch of spaghetti leftovers from last night!"

Max looked in the lair and realized no one was there. "Weird," he said. "I thought she was in here." He spotted the open computer, and his curious senses took over. He walked over to the computer and sat down in front of it.

"Creature galore," he read out loud slowly. "Looks cool."

He then spotted a giant button in the left-hand button that read, "Dragons on sale for 20% off!"

"Woah! Dragons? Sick!" he said, clicking on it. Pictures of many different kinds of dragons popped up. He clicked on the first one. "This dragon is so cool!"

Not knowing what he was doing, he stupidly clicked on the 'Adopt Now' button. He filled out his name and information slowly (Max is not the fastest typer) and clicked 'Adopt.'

A glowing hologram of a sign flew out of the screen and in front of Max. It read two words that flashed and shined.

'NO REFUNDS.'

* * *

Alex slowly woke up. At first, everything was blurry and she couldn't hear anything. But as her eyes and ears gradually adjusted she realized she was in fact not in her room. She was in a never-ending dark space, full of mist and mystery. She immediately realized she was dreaming.

To her right, out in front of her, she heard faint giggling of a young girl. She stood up and ran towards the sound. Even though she was running fast, she could not hear her footsteps. As she got closer to the giggling, she saw a shadow. It was the outline of a girl, who looked around 11, maybe 12 years old. She couldn't see anymore characteristics about this girl, and when she tried to get closer, the girl got farther away. She tried to yell out, but her voice didn't make any sound. All she could hear was the sound of the girl giggling.

Suddenly, the surroundings around her began to spin and change. She soon found herself at her house, in the kitchen, sitting on the bright orange couch. But something felt different... As she looked down, and realized she was only about 6 years old.

_This is definitely one of the weirdest and most realistic dreams I've ever had,_ thought Alex. Even when she was thinking, her voice sounded like a 6-year-old version of her, and she truly felt like she was tiny and in her kitchen at that moment. She jumped down from the kitchen, and everything looked 3x as big as it usually did. Alex, suddenly realizing she had no control over her tiny body, walked upstairs where the bedrooms were and passed by her parents bedroom. She stopped when she thought she heard something strange. She turned towards the door, which was just a crack open.

_Why can't I control my body?_ Alex thought._ And why am I 6? I am so confused!_ But when she thought about it, everything that was happening to her at this moment was sort of... familiar. She realized, as her body was moving towards her parents door, that this was no ordinary dream. She was re-living a forgotten memory.

She put her eye up against the crack and looked into her parents room. Their room was quite large, and Jerry and Theresa were far away in the corner, mumbling softly. Alex couldn't make out what they were saying.

Suddenly, an eye appeared right where her eye was. The eye was so close to hers, that was now all she could see. This startled Alex, and she jumped back with freight, deep brown eyes wide. She quickly ran away, trying not to scream. As she was running towards her room, thoughts were racing through her head.

_There was no one else in there besides mom and dad! How is it possible that someone else's eye came in front of me?_

Then Alex started remember details about the eye, as her 6-year-self, who was controlling the body, quickly hid under her covers. If she was in control of her body, she would have gasped loudly.

The eye was green. Bright green.

_Just like the baby in the picture._**  
**


	5. Chapter 4

**Yay for Chapter 4! **

**Some info about this chapter: It's quite important. It may be a bit confusing at first, any you'll probably wonder why this is added as chapter 4, but you will soon see, don't worry! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_Why me?_

_Thats the question I ask myself every day. Why am I the one to be locked up in this box for the rest of eternity? Why has no one come to save me?_

_... Has everyone forgotten about me?_

_You must be confused. Let me explain to you._

_I have lived in this cold, cement, underground room for longer than I can remember. There hasn't been one time that I've ever left, and there never will be. EVER. I have been locked in here for the twelve years I have been on this planet. I have never seen the sun, the rain, or anything about the outside world. The only reason I know about anything that has to do with the life of normal people is because there is a TV in this room. The only thing I do all day is sit and watch it. I mean, what else do you expect me to do?_

_This TV is the reason I can speak English (and Spanish. I liked Dora and the Spanish channel when I was little). It is the reason I know what everyday household objects are. It's the reason I know what names are, how to socialize properly, and how to act around other people. It's the reason I know the daily life of an average person. It's the reason I know anything I do. Without it, I would have no knowledge of anything, just like anyone who has been locked up their whole life would. _

_My daily routine consists of waking up from my bed, brushing my teeth with the given supplies near the sink, and dream about having a mirror so I can finally see what I look like. When I was little, I used to just imagine myself looking like Carly, from my all-time favorite show iCarly, but that was only because I have dark hair like she does. I don't really imagine myself that way anymore- I just see myself as a normal brunette. I don't even know if I'm pretty._

_After all of this I turn on the TV, and watch. I just... watch. In amazement. After about half the day has gone by, someone slips me my food through the slot in the door quickly. I've never actually seen this person's face before. They give me a very little amount of food, but I guess this is fine because all I do is sit all day anyway. _

_I've noticed I am skinnier than the people I see on TV. It must be because I get such little food and I have almost no muscles. I know I should probably do something about that, like move around or something to build muscles on my skin-and-bones body, but I never get around to it. I never have enough energy. I tried running once- since my room is so small and I am so weak, it didn't work._

_After I eat, I keep watching. I am fascinated by life that I see on TV. Everyday I long to be one of them, outside in the world. One place in particular I've always wanted to go to is NYC. I can tell it's absolutely mind-blowing._

_If its a shower day (I made a schedule for when I shower), I shower. Once my eyelids start to droop I know it's nighttime. I change out of the one outfit I own, comfortable shorts and an oversized t-shirt, change into my pajamas, brush my incredibly long hair (I trim it myself when it gets too long with a pair of scissors I found in the cabinet below the sink that keeps my very few belongings- my hair is currently a little more than halfway down my back) and then I go to bed._

_I've been doing that same thing for the past 12 years. AKA, my whole life._

_But the one question I always ask myself is: Why am I here? What's different about me that I have to live in this dreadful place? I don't even know why the hell I'm here anyway. I don't know anything about myself or where I'm from, or where in the world this awful room is located._

_I don't even know my own real name._

_When I was quite little, around 3 or 4, I loved the show Zoey 101. I made a decision- My name would be Zoe. But for some reason I didn't like the Y; I found it unnecessary. And the name just kind of... stuck._

_You may be wondering if I've ever seen a real person before, and actually, I have. My 'Keeper," as she calls herself. Her name is Katherine. She's about 17 or 18, with long, dark, wavy hair and deep brown eyes. She's tall, and she's even taller when she wears heels, which is usual for her. Compared to me she's really tall; I'm about 4 feet 10 inches, but I haven't finished growing yet. I think she's very pretty and sometimes I hope I look like her. She's sassy and usually is a total jerk. For the most part, I hate her. But I know deep down she pities me, and sometimes... I like her. But I don't like to admit it to myself. I tell myself that I only like her because she's the only person in my life, and I feel like she's the only person who is there for me. I wish I had more people like that. I wish I had friends and a family. Katherine is all I have. She taught me how to read and write and do things that the TV wouldn't teach me when I was small, but the older I get, the less she comes. I think one day she'll stop coming at all. I dread that day. _

_Okay, so I like Katherine a lot more than I allow myself to. I can even go far enough to say that I love her. But it's only because she's been there for me and she's the only one who takes care of me, unless you count the lady that shoves food through a slot in my door, which I personally don't. She used to come in every day- now it's more like once every few months. The only reason I said I hated her before was because it angers me that she doesn't do anything to help me get out of here. But there is also something strange about her- she hasn't aged a day since I first saw her as a tiny child. She has stayed 17 years old my whole life. I assumed she was probably some magic creature (Oh, and yes, I know about magic. I know mortals don't know about it, also) I haven't actually figured out if I'm magic or not. I've just assumed I'm mortal._

_Currently, I sit and watch TV. Right now, I am watching SpongeBob, one of my personal favorites. I just love the humor in this show. I feel like I'll never get too old for it. _

_I hear someone walk up to the door. My head spins towards it; my stomach had been grumbling for the past hour. At least it felt like what I imagine to be an hour. There's no clock in here and there never has been. _

_But instead of the familiar sound of the slot being opened, I hear the passcode being put in and the magic spell to unlock the door. The door slowly opens, and Katherine walks in. Fireworks of excitement blow up inside of me._

_Of course, I don't show any of this emotion. "You again?" I say sounding bored, not looking away from the TV._

_She slinks over. "Wow. That greeting sucked. It's been six months and all I get is that? No 'Hello!' 'Good afternoon Katherine!' 'It's been so long!' "_

_So that's what six months feels like. It's shorter than I expected._

_I roll my eyes. I was currently upset with Katherine. I had time to think about how she doesn't do anything to help me escape from here. She doesn't tell me anything about who I am, why I'm here, anything. It's literally my only wish, getting out of here and finding the many missing parts of me._

_I look at her. I decide I want to ask her these things. I muster up the courage, but right when I'm about to say them she sits down on the floor with me and interrupts._

"_You look like you have a question. Ask it."_

_I inhale, ready to ask. "Who am I and why am I here?"_

_Katherine's expression doesn't change. "I've told you a million times, you little jerk. I can't tell you."_

_I growl in frustration. "Tell me! Please! I... I know you care about me, deep down in that cold, dark heart of yours..."_

_Katherine scoffs. "I won't tell you if you insult me," she says. _

_My hope grows. I lift my head slightly. "So if I don't insult you, you'll tell me?"_

_Katherine looks around, as if someone is going to hear us. She scoots closer to me. _

"_Look," she says with a hushed voice. "When I started taking care of you 12 years ago, they told me not to get attached to you. They said I'll regret it. They said I was the only one who could come in contact with you." _

_I am getting excited. This was the most information she's ever given to me about herself, why I'm here, or information in general._

"_But..." she pauses. "I think I like you a lot more than I should. I mean, do they really expect me to not get attached to a girl that I practically raised from a young age?" She scoots closer to me. "And I promise I would totally tell you, if I actually knew anything. All I know is something about you being extremely... powerful."_

_I give Katherine a disbelieving look. "You must've heard that wrong," I say. "I mean, come on. Do you really expect this," I gesture to my tiny body, "to be extremely powerful?"_

_Katherine shrugs. "Sorry. That's all I know."_

_She begins to stand and walk towards the door._

"_Wait!" I exclaim. "Are you sure that's all?"_

_Katherine hesitates, then speaks. "You have a sister."_

_She then opens the door, walks out, and I see someone else's hand close the door and say the spell to lock it._

_My eyes are wide. I can't even process quite yet what she just said. After a few minutes of sitting on the ground where Katherine left me in total shock, I speak._

"_I have a sister!?"_


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello again! This chapter goes back to Alex and Harper. They get quite far in their mission. :) Things are starting to tie together!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"Alex! Wake up! It's time to go!"

Alex groaned and turned over in her bed. At first, her usual laziness kicked in. She refused to get up as Harper shook her shoulders.

Then, Alex remembered why she was getting up. She was incredibly eager to find this girl. She sprang out of bed, shooed Harper out of her room, and quickly changed out of her purple pajamas, with big white polka dots on them.

She quickly changed into dark skinny jeans and a flowing purple top. She brushed her stubborn, wavy hair into a ponytail and quickly walked out of her room, ready. "Come on! Let's go!"

Harper and Alex walked down to the kitchen on the spiral stairs, then walked down the next set of spiral stairs down to the substation. When no customers were looking, she walked into the lair.

Alex groaned when she saw her dad and her brothers already in the lair. She would have to lie to them.

"Bye Dad! Harper and I are going wizard shopping. We'll be back soon."

Jerry looked suspicious. Just as Alex was quickly opening the portal door, he asked, "Do you have any money?"

Justin sneered. "She never has any money. She always spends it all the second she gets any."

"True," she said. "But that's why I always steal your money. For example, a few minutes ago."

Before Justin could be angry and her dad could yell at her, she grabbed Harper's wrist and pulled her through the door with her. Alex ran, giggling.

"Alex!" said Harper. "You stole Justin's money again?"

Alex laughed. "No, silly! I lied! Just like how I lied about going to the wizard mall. I just like making Justin angry." She chuckled. "Did you see his face?"

Harper rolled her eyes. "Let's just go."

Alex pulled out a slip of paper. "I wrote down the address to Creature Galore last night." She rolled her eyes at the name. "That is the all-time worst possible name that anyone could name a magical adoption center. Ugh."

Harper nodded in agreement as they started making their way through the misty clouds of the wizard portal. Alex lead Harper to a small typewriter on a pedestal that looked like a small, ancient Greek column.

"This allows us wizards to go absolutely anywhere in the wizard world that we want, as long as the address is accessible to the public. You just type it in here..." she quickly typed in the address on the piece of paper, "And voila! It will give you a portal door that goes straight to the place you typed in!"

Sure enough, a pink door began to materialize a few feet in front of them. Once it was finished, Alex motioned towards her best friend. "Come on!"

Alex turned the brass handle and opened the door. The two girls stepped inside.

They were definitely in creature galore. All around them, except for the exit, were glass and wire cages of every living thing imaginable. Dragons, ogres, cyclops's, pegasi, unicorns, even some magical creatures that were more human-like, like fairies in small little forests and mermaids in splashing ponds. They all seemed happy, for the most part. While Alex stared in awe at a family of flying pigs in a glass cage built into the wall, Harper tapped her on the shoulder.

"Maybe that front desk lady can help us," she murmured.

Alex looked over. There was a young, blonde woman with pixie features, including sparkles everywhere, pointed ears and nose, and was even complete with fairy wings that almost looked like she pulled them out of a four-year-old's dress up closet, except Alex could tell, by the way that they moved, that they were real wings. She was typing at a laptop and looked intent on her work.

The two girls walked over to the fairy front desk woman. Alex stopped in front of the desk. The fairy didn't even look up.

"Ehem," Harper cleared her throat to get her attention. She didn't look up. Harper repeated herself with more volume. "EHEM!"

The fairy looked up, annoyed. "Yes?" she said with attitude.

"I have two questions," said Alex. "First of all, why the heck did they hire you as a front desk woman? Do they purposely not want people to adopt their animals?"

The fairy stared at her blankly. Not even a hint of anger, or humor, or sadness showed up on her face. She was completely silent.

"Second of all..." Alex continued. "Can you tell me what you know about this creature and if you still have her?"

She dug the picture out of her pocket and handed it to the lady. The lady looked at the picture, and Alex could see a hint of worry clouding her eyes. The fairy woman gave her the picture back.

"I'm sorry, I don't recognize her. Can I help you with anything else?" she said, suddenly very polite.

"Yeah, you can. Tell us where this girl is. Your wiz web address is printed on the back of this picture," said Alex with determination.

"You must be mistaken. I'm sorry. Have a good day." She sounded very worried, and the way she said it was very rushed.

Suddenly, the fairy stood up. "Excuse me," she said. "I must go feed the fire-breathing snakes."

The fairy woman scurried away before the two girls could question. "Well, that was incredibly weird and random," said Harper.

"She's hiding something," said Alex. "She looked and acted so guilty." Alex let out a frustrated groan. "Why is this so hard? No one knows anything about this girl!"

Harper noticed something out of the corner of her eye. The front desk was in front of a wall that lead into a hallway on the right side. Harper saw something that was down the hallway.

Harper grabbed Alex's hand and dragged her to the corner behind the front desk. They hid behind the corner and peered down the hallway.

They were looking at two blonde woman. One was the fairy that was at the front desk, and the other was a tall blonde woman, looking frustrated and slightly worried. The fairy was nervously babbling quietly to the other woman, her gestures and motions over-exaggerated.

Alex and Harper exchanged glances.

"Do you think they're talking about..." said Harper, her voice trailing off at the end.

Alex nodded curtly. "There's definitely something they aren't telling us."

The two girls watched them as they turned a corner at the end of the hall. "Follow me," whispered Alex to Harper. "We're going to follow them."

The began their way down the hall and cautiously turned the corner the two blonde women had taken. They followed them quietly, trying to hide themselves as best as they could, keeping a good distance between them and the blonde girls. As they were walking through the halls they walked by hundreds of other kinds of animals, all looking quite happy and healthy.

Soon they started following the two woman down flights of stairs. They had to be very quiet and cautious so they wouldn't see or hear Alex and Harper. They continued to follow them, and as they went farther and farther down, it got darker and dirtier. They went down many flights of stairs, and Alex could tell they were well underground in the wizard world by now. Finally, the two women arrived at a big, metal door. The other blonde puts a passcode into the lock, and it opens with a pop. The two women went inside, and just as it was about to close, Alex ran over and held it open ever so slightly. Carefully, Alex opened the door just a crack. She looked inside, told Harper, "All clear! Lets go!" and they slowly opened the door and went inside.

Alex gasped, looking around with sad, dark eyes. All around them were animals in cages, but they were nothing like the ones upstairs. Those were happy and playful, with lots of room to fly, swim, or whatever they wanted to do. These animals were in tiny, cramped cages, and they all looked sad and depressed. The only light that was provided were burning torches here and there that gave off a pitiful amount of light. As they were walking, trying to keep up with the fairy and the blonde woman, Alex noticed a young fairy, only about 8 years old, locked up in a small cell. She looked as if she had been locked up her whole life, and Alex realized that was probably the case. Not many things made Alex cry, but this was coming close to it.

"What kind of horrible place is this?"

They kept moving, trying to follow the women as best they could. After turning many corners filled with sad creatures in cramped cages, they finally turned the last one. Harper gasped as softly as she could.

They had come to the end of the hallways. The corner they were hiding behind was the last one. On the right side of the hallway they were looking at from behind the corner, there was a huge door. It was a shiny silver color, and it was illuminated by the torch near it. Alex wondered what they were keeping in there. And then, a horrible idea came into her mind.

"Oh my God. Harper. What if... what if they're keeping the girl in there?"

Harper's mouth dropped open. "No. They can't be that cruel. It's probably just a storage closet."

After seeing how cruel these people were being to the other creatures they had seen, Alex wasn't sure. "Why would a storage closet be heavily locked? And why would the door be so big and heavy?" said Alex.

"You're right..."

Alex had to know for herself. They watched the blonde woman input something into the passcode that was keeping the door locked, and soft clicking sounds came from the door, as if it was repositioning its lock. Alex thought that maybe they were resetting it so her and Harper couldn't get in. Once she was done with the door, she and the fairy walked down to the end of the hall, which had a door that said 'Employees ONLY' and 'Headmaster Office.' They entered the door and disappeared.

Alex had an idea. When they were cautiously walking through the hallways of miserable animals, she had spotted that there were employees wearing the same outfit.

Alex tapped Harper.

"We need to get those outfits and see what's inside that door."


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Sorry chapter 6 took so long, I was on a family vacation for a very long time. I hope you enjoy this chapter! (PS; hope you like CRAZY cliffhangers! XD)**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"I don't understand. You're saying that Boss has new outfits for us? Wouldn't we have heard about it? Besides, you guys aren't even employees, and she hasn't changed our outfits for years!"

Alex, who was holding a navy blue uniform that she had created moments ago with her red wand to fool the employees, sighed in frustration, and continued building onto her lie that she was using to trick these two staff members. "I told you. We are friends of your boss and this is what she told me to give you!"

The two employees, a dark-haired man and woman wearing matching dark green uniforms, the real uniforms that Alex and Harper were trying to get, exchanged disbelieving glances.

"I dunno, Kevin," the woman said. "These two girls don't really seem like the type of people that Courtney makes friends with..." Alex assumed that Courtney was the real name of this mysterious 'Boss.'

"But," said Kevin, "They do look the same age as Boss..."

"And, I do like BOSSing people around," said Alex, making a bad joke. She laughed the way Alex laughs when she's laughing at her own comical self. Harper began to fake laugh nervously- something Harper does when she's nervous. The two employees were emotionless.

The woman sighed. "Fine," she said. The two guards grabbed the uniforms, went into the nearest bathroom, and soon after walked out with the fake uniform on and the real one in their hands.

"Here," the woman said, handing them the real, green uniform. The two employees walked away, turning the corner, wearing the fake ones.

"Wait a second..." Harper said. "That was so pointless! Alex, are we really this dumb? We could've just created the blue uniform with your magic instead of tricking them!"

Alex's eyes widened. She slapped herself on the forehead. "Man, I should've paid more attention in school, because that was a seriously dumb move. Whatever. We have them now, so lets change and go."

They changed into the uniform, a dark blue outfit that looked like it came right off a hotel bellhop, complete with little golden buttons and a circular collar. All it needed was a classic bellhop hat, and she could be employed at the nearest hotel.

"Come on!" she said to Harper, grabbing her hand, pulling her out of the dressing room.

"Sorry, but this uniform is really big! Why do I have to wear Kevins?"

"Because that's the one you grabbed from me! Now, come on! It's time to fool some more people!"

They ran through hallways back to the door that said 'Employees only'. They passed by the mysterious silver door, and straight into the employee office.

Inside was many employees in the same dark blue uniforms. They were bustling around, obviously busy, inside the office room that Alex and Harper had just walked in to. Papers were neatly organized in files around the room.

Alex walked up to the girl with sandy colored hair sitting at the desk on the other side of the room.

"Hi," she said. "Um, we need to be permitted access to go into the silver door just outside this room."

Everyone in the entire room froze. People stopped talking. All eyes were turned on her and Harper. Alex saw shocked faces.

The lady behind the desk looked shocked, also. "B-but... Courtney has been giving instructions for years and years that only Katherine is allowed inside!"

"Well, that's what Courtney told us," said Harper gesturing to her and Alex. "Yup, good ol' Courtney. She definitely gave us those instructions. Am I right, Alex?" Harper began to fan herself with her hand. "D-did it suddenly get hot in here?"

Alex shot a glare at Harper, then turned her eyes back towards the woman. "Yes, both Courtney and, er... Kaitlyn told us to give us access."

"Katherine," said the woman. "Her name is Katherine."

"Oh, close enough I'm terrible with names," said Alex, rolling her dark eyes.

"Are you sure?" said the woman. "That doesn't sound like something Courtney would say..."

Another woman near the desk chimed in. "But, we wouldn't want to deny Courtneys orders, would we?"

The people inside the room murmured in agreement.

"Alright, fine, um... what's your name? I can't see your nametag."

Alex moved her dark hair out of the way. Underneath was a small golden nameplate, and engraved on it was the name 'SHELBY.'

"Shelby," said Alex.

"And your friend's name is..." she squinted her eyes and read Harper's nameplate. Her face suddenly looked confused and doubtful. She raised one eyebrow. "...Kevin?"

Harper suddenly burst into loud, nervous laughter. Alex quickly slapped her hand on Harper's mouth.

"Her parents really wanted a boy," she lied. "She laughs whenever she feels self-conscious. Now please may we have access before you insult my friend even more?"

The woman still looked funny, but she nodded slightly. "Access granted," she said. "Here's the key and the spell you use to unlock it."

Before the woman could change her mind, she quickly grabbed the key, the spell sheet, and said, "Thanks!" Harper followed her out of the employee office.

They closed the door. Alex sighed a huge sigh of relief. "Woah, that was close. I thought we were going to be locked up in wizard jail forever."

Harper nodded. When they finished catching their breath, they walked over to the door. It shimmered and loomed over them mysteriously.

Alex crossed her fingers. "I really hope we find what we're looking for here!"

Alex first put the key into the lock. She turned the key as far to the right as she could. The two girls heard a clicking noise.

"That sounded promising," said Harper.

Alex then looked down and read the spell sheet. She scrunched her eyebrows together, looking very confused. "I've never seen this spell before," she said. "It's only one word, and it doesn't even look like a real spell. Weird." She looked at Harper and shrugged, assuming that she missed it or forgot about it from one of her many wizard classes taught by her dad. She took her red wand out of her boot, pointed it towards the door, and read out the spell while waving her wand.

"Krostesies!"

Light flashed from her wand and hit the door. The light spread throughout the whole door, making clicking noises. The door then stopped glowing.

At first, nothing happened. Alex frowned. "Maybe I did the spell wrong," she said, pushing a wavy piece of hair behind her ear and looking back down at the paper. But, sure enough, seconds after she had said that, the door made one last popping sound, and then slid open just a few inches.

Suddenly, Alex became afraid. What if whatever was behind the door wasn't the girl? What if it was something horrible? After all, they had absolutely no idea what was behind there.

Alex and Harper exchanged nervous glances. Alex bravely reached her arm towards the door. Her hand gripped the handle tightly, and she opened it slowly.

The two girls jaws dropped. Alex put her hand over her mouth.

Sitting inside the room was a girl. She had very long, dark, wavy hair that went almost all the way down her back. She was sitting on the stone floor, her back facing the two girls, and she was simply watching a tv in front of her. Alex recognized the show- Friends.

Just as Phoebe, the character currently on the TV screen, was making a funny remark, the girl reached for the remote and muted the TV. "Back so soon, Katherine?" the young girl said before she turned around.

When she saw that these two girls were indeed not Katherine, she nearly jumped ten feet in the air. Her eyes widened what seemed like to the size of golf balls and she scooted back a foot.

"Wh-who... are... y-you?" said the girl.

Alex and Harper looked at each other, completely shocked. They looked back at the girl.

Alex slightly inhaled, still shocked that there was actually a living, breathing person behind the door they had just opened.

**"The question that should really be asked is who are you?"**


End file.
